All the rage, precariously

molly.webb@gmail.com ( Molly Webb ) — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 15:35:39 -0100

Social entrepreneurs (SE) might be the new black, but we still need to do far more to support them.

Here's a quote from one enthusiastic woman on the LeapFrogging blog who still isn't comfortable with the label 'social entrepreneur'...
"My "idea" is actually working, and it is having unimaginable results! But my venture could still die on the vine. No SE is an island, and so many others must join in - the masses, the $$$, the brains, the media, the web-diva, database-dude and the on-ground, real women and children we are trying so damn hard to lift up. We all must rise up, get rowdy, demand more and refuse to remain silent!"

The blog is 'real-time reflections from the team' at SustainAbility and Skoll, who are working together to encourage 'entrepreneurial solutions':
"Even with the best will in the world, leading incumbent companies are struggling to drive the sort of radical market changes needed to achieve sustainable development in acceptable timescales. We believe that help and hope can be found among innovators and entrepreneurs operating with greater degrees of freedom." (Jan 6)

Demos is developing a project - for now entitled 'Social Switchboards' - to better understand and map the linkages between the SE 'islands' and how they can realise more than the sum of their parts.

Look Into My Ideas ft Paul Ormerod

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 12:19:07 -0100

View the photos from this event

Download a podcast from the event here. You should also be able to hear the audio through the player below.

(You can subscribe to our podcasts here).

This event was a bit of an experiment for us. Despite the drop in numbers caused by the weather, it felt like a success. If you have any thoughts or comments, ideas for how it could be improved please leave them in the comment space below. There'll be a video of the event available soon.

Do you have a lonely half-formed idea? A ropey business plan, a layout for a building, an outline of a book, a campaign, a screenplay or a web 2.0 innovation? Well, maybe it should get out there and meet someone. Look Into My Ideas is a chance to take your half-formed inspirations, from the back of the pub, off the loo, out of the bottom of the bath and into the Hayward Gallery to meet some others. The session will provide a calming atmosphere in which to meet people with other ideas, including an introduction from Catherine Fieschi, Director of Demos, and a lecture from Paul Ormerod, best-selling author of "Why Most Things Fail".

Tickets are priced at £5 and can be bought now from The South Bank Centre 0870 382 8000. They are listed under "Creative Ideas Exchange".

Read the Introduction and Preface to "Why Most Things Fail"

Look into My Ideas is a part of the "100 Ideas to Change the World" series of events at the South Bank Centre.

Directions to Hayward Gallery

Demos Project : Social Switchboards

All the rage, precariously

Look Into My Ideas ft Paul Ormerod